I dealt with some back pain last season and was in a similar situation. I went back to my doctor and got a script for a higher dose of Ibuprofen. Stronger than the stuff you buy at the store. It was like 800mg. Worked great as a pain killer without the loopiness. But my pain was just muscle related. If you have more severe issues this may not work for you. The only downside was that they didn't seem to work much longer than 4 hrs and when it wore off I could tell right away.